As Twitchy reported earlier this month, Seattle became the first major city in the United States to ban plastic straws, authorizing a $250 fine but claiming that the initial phase of the law was “more about raising awareness.”

Santa Barbara, Calif., has seen Seattle’s $250 fine and raised it — to $1,000, plus the added threat of six months’ jail time.

Santa Barbara’s ordinance “is likely the most severe straw ban in the country,” according to Reason, but it’s far from the only straw ban. Seattle banned plastic straws earlier this month, mandating a a $250 fine for violators. Santa Barbara, however, has gone much further than Seattle — even aside from the harsher punishments its law imposes. Santa Barbara has banned not only plastic straws, but also compostable straws. Oh, and each individual straw counts as a separate infraction, meaning that if someone got busted handing out straws to a table of four people, he or she could end up facing years behind bars.

Now the rest of America knows the INSANITY we live with here in SB. Homeless everywhere, defecating on the streets, 39 shuttered business on our State St in 8 city blocks, and we have our @SBCity Council arresting restaurants or individuals for hanging out straws….pure Insanity

Great. A whole new set of laws based on a single disturbing photo of a turtle that made a bunch of leftists sad. Imagine if abortion photos made the rounds. I would say those are infinitely more sad and more frequent than a turtle impaled with a straw.